


Two of Wands

by Zisk



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Domestic, F/M, Fluff, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Gender-neutral Reader, M/M, Muriel's BFF Asra, Reader drinks alcohol, Soft Muriel (The Arcana)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:49:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25906864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zisk/pseuds/Zisk
Summary: Owning your own home and moving to a new neighborhood can be a little overwhelming, but (Y/N) finds that having the right neighbor can make a big difference.(no set update schedule)
Relationships: Muriel (The Arcana)/Reader
Comments: 4
Kudos: 65





	1. Chapter 1

You stared into the back of the moving van, frowning.  
The boxes had been easy enough so far, nothing too heavy that you had a hard time carrying them. Clothes and kitchen supplies and the smaller of the boxes of books.  
You frowned a little harder, staring at the mattress and trying to remember how you managed to get it into the truck in the first place.  
Sighing, you closed your eyes. It had to come out sooner or later, might as well pull it out now. Maybe if you balanced it on your back like a turtle and just… tipped it to get it through the door.  
You grabbed another box, shaking your head. One more reconnaissance of the house, one more look at the layout to come up with some strategy to get the mattress into your room. You weren’t stalling, you were gathering intel.  
You’d made it five steps towards the house when a black blur shot past you, close enough to your legs that you felt the breeze of its passing. You stepped quickly, startled and trying to remove yourself from its path, and wound up tripping on your own feet. The box fell with a heavy thump, spilling books over the sidewalk, and the impact of your fall left you feeling dazed. You started up at the sky, blinking, until the sky was replaced by the fluffy face of a large dog. The dog whined.  
“Inanna!” A voice boomed from the other side of the moving van. “What did I tell you about leaving the van alone?” The voice grew louder, presumably the speaker was drawing closer. You and the dog continued to stare at each other. “We aren’t-“ The speaker stopped mid-sentence, you judged that they’d come around the van and were now processing the scene in the front of them.  
You and the dog, Inanna, turned to look at the speaker in unison.  
A mountain of a man was staring at you, surprise and confusion warring on his face. Distractedly, he brushed his hair out of his eyes and sighed.  
“Inanna, what did you do.” It was less a question and more an exasperated statement. Inanna whined again, nosing your shoulder.  
You waved. “They ran by and startled me, I tripped.” You sat up, wincing at the sting in your elbow. “I’m (Y/N), I’m just moving into the neighborhood.”  
The man was turning a lovely shade of pink.  
You stood, dusting yourself off. “Do you live around here?”  
He mumbled something, blush fully formed on his face as he stared at your shoes. “Yes. Sorry about Inanna.”  
“No problem.” You turned, stooping to start gathering your scattered books. “Have you lived here long?”  
You glanced up, surprised to find the man crouched near you as he carefully helped pick up the books. He mumbled something, studying the cover of a book he was holding. You craned your head, identifying it quickly.  
“Do you want to borrow it?” You smiled as he gave you a startled look. “It’s one of my favorites, I must have read it about a hundred times. Take it, you know where I am when you’re done.”  
He started to say something, looking flustered, before he turned an even darker shade of red and started hurriedly putting books back in the box. You felt a little gratified when he tucked the book you’d offered him into his jacket pocket, though.  
You tossed the last of the books into the box, stretching as you straightened. “Thank you for helping me.” The man shrugged, looking uncomfortable. Inanna nosed your hand, looking at you expectantly, and you chuckled as you scratched behind her ear. “You’re forgiven, but only because you’re so cute.” She whuffed, looking pleased.  
You turned back to your neighbor, starting to ask about Inanna, but the appearance of a white haired man cut you off.  
“Muriel!” He called, grinning at the bigger man. “I was wondering where you’d gone! I-“ He stopped, blinking in surprise as he noticed you. “Hello.”  
“Hi.” You waved, realizing your neighbor hadn’t actually given you his name. “I’m (Y/N), I’m just moving in.”  
“I’m Asra. I see you’ve already met Muriel.” He gestured to the house behind you. “Moving into this one?” You nodded. “Welcome to the neighborhood!”  
“Thank you. Have you lived here long?” You refused to acknowledge the small twist in your gut, you absolutely were not disappointed by Asra’s appearance because you certainly did not find your quiet neighbor handsome and strangely charming. Furthermore, you absolutely were not going to be extra nice to compensate.  
“Oh, I don’t live here, I was just visiting.” He shot Muriel a grin and the blush that had almost disappeared from his face started to return. Asra blinked. “Oh! What’s happened to your arm?”  
You looked down, startled, to find a thin line of blood running down your arm. A quick examination revealed the damage on your elbow to be a little more severe than you’d initially thought.  
“I tripped, I guess I landed harder than I thought I did.” You looked at the back of the van, eyeing your boxes, and sighed. “There’s some bandages in one of these boxes…”  
Muriel turned on his heel, stalking back to his house. Asra watched him go, a faint smile turning up the corners of his lips. You looked at him, obviously lost.  
“Muriel’s got a fairly robust first aid kit, he’ll be right back.” Asra supplied.  
You felt a blush creeping up your neck. “Oh, he doesn’t need to! I think I know which box…” You trailed off as Asra held his hand up.  
“This will be easier.” He gave you a gentle smile and you sighed, nodding. “Have you been in town long?”  
You shook your head. “Moved here about a year ago, but I’m new to this area.”  
Asra nodded. “It’s a good neighborhood, pretty quiet. There’s a café a couple blocks over, Mazelinka’s. Come by one of these mornings, I’ll make you a ‘welcome’ coffee.”  
You blinked. “You work at Mazelinka’s? How’ve I never seen you?”  
“I work openings.” He shrugged.  
You bit your lip. “That would do it, I’ve never made it in before noon.”  
“Well, now you’ll have to.” He chuckled.  
“I guess I will. Thank you, that’s a very kind offer.” You hesitated for a moment, a grin spreading over your face. “Does coming in the morning mean I can find fresh pumpkin bread?”  
Asra laughed, nodding. “It might.”  
“Done deal.” You nodded emphatically. “I’ll be there with bells on.”  
Muriel re-appeared, cutting off your conversation. He stopped before you, looking from his handful of things to your elbow with obvious concern. You started to reach out, intending to grab just the bandage and be done with it, but Muriel handed the pile to Asra before you could do more than lift your hand. He produced a pair of latex gloves from a pocket, pulling them on and plucking a packet from Asra’s hands. He tore it open, pulling out an alcohol wipe, and looked at you expectantly. You blinked, surprised, and held your arm out.  
One hand wrapped around your wrist, carefully, and the other used the alcohol wipe to clean the blood off your arm. You flinched involuntarily as it passed over the scrape on your elbow and Muriel frowned. Once the blood was cleaned off, he dropped the wipe in a small bag Asra held out and examined the scrape closely. He grunted, nodding, and grabbed another packet from Asra’s hands. This one was an ointment, which he applied liberally. The last step was pressing a bandage in place. Finally he nodded, stripping the gloves off and dropping them in the bag, which he took from Asra and made disappear in another pocket.  
You looked between the two of them, befuddled, before turning to Muriel. “I- ah, thank you.”  
He nodded again.  
“You are very, uhm…” You trailed off, unsure how to phrase your admiration for his preparedness. “Thorough.”  
Asra snorted, smiling. He glanced from you to the van, frowning. “Do you have any friends coming to help you move?”  
You blushed. “My best friend offered to stop by when they get off work, but that’s still a few hours away.”  
“How are you planning to get that mattress inside?”  
“Same way I got it into the truck- a little luck, a little stubborn and a lot of swearing.” You shrugged.  
Asra laughed and Muriel’s lips turned up at the corners.  
“Would you like help?” Asra asked. You felt your blush intensifying.  
“Oh! That’s- that’s incredibly kind of you, but I wouldn’t want to-“ Muriel stepped forward and you fell silent.  
“To make up for-“ He gestured at your arm. You bit your lip.  
“You really don’t need to- I wouldn’t want to put you out, I-“ You sighed, facing down their resolute looks. “Alright, I accept, but can I least buy pizza afterwards?”  
Muriel grunted, turning to start pulling the mattress out of the van, but you caught a vague hint of a smile.  
“Your terms are acceptable.” Asra nodded, grinning, before turning to help Muriel with the mattress.  
You hefted the box of books, glancing at the van to make sure they didn’t need help before heading up to open the door for them. A small smile worked its way onto your face. You were feeling better about this move already.


	2. Chapter 2

The skittering was getting closer and you scowled at the ceiling in a way you hoped was intimidating but you knew wasn’t going to make a lick of difference.  
Something was in your attic, and it needed to be dealt with.  
You marched into the kitchen, pulling open the drawer a little rougher than necessary and pulling out your flashlight. The drawer slid shut with a thump and you turned your scowl on the hatch to the attic.  
Maybe if you kept telling yourself that this was a nuisance, that you were irritated to have to deal with it, you could pretend you weren’t nervous. That you had no idea what was up there, from insect swarms to rabid raccoons to particularly enterprising feral boars that, while certainly not native to the area, could have maybe possibly taken up residence in your attic. That whatever was up there, vampires or ghosts or zombies, was more afraid of you than you were of it, and it absolutely wasn’t poised at the entry ready to eat your face.  
You huffed at the hatch, flicking the flashlight on.  
You pulled the cord, bringing the stairs down, and took a deep breath before climbing up them.  
You closed your eyes, taking a deeper breath, before popping your head over the threshold and into the attic, opening your eyes and bringing the flashlight up at the same time.  
The opossum hissed, light reflecting off its eyes and causing them to glow in a way you found you really didn’t care for.  
You made a very surprised sound, culminating in an emphatic ‘fuck!’.  
The opossum hissed again, skittering further into the attic and out of your beam of light.  
You dropped back under the attic threshold, sighing and resting your forehead on a stair for a moment. Overhead, the sound of skittering came from several directions.  
This was a little bit of an issue.  
You climbed down, shutting the hatch and returning the flashlight to its drawer.  
You walked outside, drinking in the afternoon sunshine, and sighed as you looked sky-ward.  
Something weighty and tall collided with your thighs and you reached down, burying your hand in soft fur without looking down from the clouds.  
“Hey Inanna. Slip out of the yard again?” You asked gently.  
Inanna whuffed.  
“That’s fair. Think Muriel’s figured it out yet?”  
She whuffed again, nosing your leg and bringing your attention back to the ground.  
“Walk you home?”  
The canine (Muriel had told you her breed once but you’d superimposed ‘wolf-hybrid’ over any explanation he’d given you for her size and intelligence, and you’d failed to retain any other explanation since) pulled her lips back in a grin, tongue lolling, before leading the way back to her home. You followed dutifully behind, hands shoved in your pants pockets, and smiled softly as you watched the dog bound up the front steps.  
Muriel appeared a long moment after you’d rung the front bell, his expression going from surprised to understanding as Inanna pushed past him into the house.  
“Muriel.” You greeted.  
“(Y/N).” He sighed. “I’m sorry she-“ You waved your hand and he stopped.  
“Any day she comes to visit me is a good day.” You grinned, followed quickly by a sigh. “Although, her ‘good day’ magic is up against a lot this time.”  
Muriel raised a silent eyebrow, waiting. You scuffed your foot, not having intended to bring up your problems but finding yourself here anyway.  
“There, uhm… There might be possums living in my attic. Since I moved in. Like, a family of them.”  
Muriel’s eyebrow climbed a little higher.  
“I- ah, investigated the attic, right before Inanna found me, to confirm my suspicions and…” You shrugged. “I guess I have upstairs neighbors now?”  
“You’re going to just leave them?” Muriel’s other eyebrow joined the first.  
You shrugged again, feeling self-conscious. “I haven’t really figured out what I’m going to do. I can’t… I can’t kill them.” You frowned. “I guess maybe I could catch them, but I don’t…” You trailed off as Muriel slid his feet into a pair of sandals, stepped onto the porch next to you and closed the front door.  
“Come on.” His voice was barely more than a rumble and you followed him towards his garage. Muriel was a man of few words, finding out anything about him was like pulling teeth (although you’d managed to bribe Asra with baked goods for some general information), but you were finding that you kind of liked it. He was sweet, in his kind of gruff way, and while you weren’t quite at the ‘let’s go for a hike deep in the woods where no one can hear screams’ point you were fairly certain he wasn’t going to murder you. Which was a big step up on some of the neighbors you’d had.  
The garage door rattled as Muriel pulled it open, revealing a neatly kept room. You cast your eyes about for clues about Muriel’s life, there were a couple chest freezers, a work bench, shelves lining the walls that were covered in- Muriel tossed something at you and your attention swung to catching it. You turned the metal box, looking at it with furrowed brows. Muriel pulled a couple more off a shelf, leading the way back out of the garage. You continued to inspect it as you followed him, threading your fingers through the holes in the wire. Muriel watched you with obvious amusement as he pulled the garage door shut.  
“Live trap.” He supplied, reaching into one of the apple trees next to the house and pulling a couple fruits down. He tossed those at you, too, and it was everything you could do to catch them and not drop the trap.  
“Okay.” You said, balancing the apples on the top of the trap. “What’s the plan?”  
“Put them in the attic. Catch the possum. Take the possum far away, release the possum.” He raised an eyebrow at you.  
You nodded. “Okay.”  
At the foot of the attic ladder, Muriel produced a knife from somewhere (you knew he always had at least two on him, but so far your attempts at finding where he hid them or how many more there were had proved fruitless) and sliced the apples into pieces. The largest pieces were set in the traps, and he ascended the ladder with a trap tucked under his arm.  
Above you, the skittering retreated to the walls.  
Muriel pulled himself into the attic, reaching an arm down for you to pass him the other traps. You popped your head up, watching as he set them up and left trails of apple chunks leading to them. He looked around the space, frowning.  
“What?” You asked.  
“Doesn’t look like too much damage.” He glanced at you. “You should find where they’re getting in, block it over.”  
“That is my next step in this plan. Step one, get rid of possums. Step two, ensure there are no additional possums.”  
Muriel grunted and you moved out of the way, allowing him to come back down the ladder.  
“Step three…” You paused, thinking. “Convert the attic into some kind of functional space.”  
Muriel raised an eyebrow.  
“I got stuck on step one, I haven’t worked out the finer points of three yet.” You shrugged.  
Muriel nodded, heading for your door. “I will be back to check the traps tomorrow.”  
“Okay! Thank you!” You hesitated. You’d long since stopped trying to pay him or Asra, they always seemed vaguely insulted by the suggestion. “Can I… cook you anything? For services provided?”  
Muriel paused, hand resting on your doorknob, and looked back at you. Contemplative amusement pulled up the corners of his lips. “…I will accept cookies.”  
“Cookies, yes, great, wonderful! I will make- What kind of cookies do you-“ The door swung shut behind him and you sighed, fishing your phone out of your pocket. If he wasn’t going to be forthcoming, then maybe Asra could give you a hint and you could surprise him with your secret knowledge of him.  
You nodded to yourself as you typed. This was a perfect, A+ plan. Could not possibly backfire.

*  
Plan Cookies had backfired.  
You waved feebly at the smoke floating out of your oven, watching the small flames flicker on top of the cookies.  
‘Lavender shortbread,’ Asra had said. ‘Easily topped with edible flowers,’ Asra had said. Asra had not said, however, how easy it was to accidentally catch said flowers on fire and you frowned at the now-charred cookies in displeasure.  
Muriel was due soon. Granted, the man hadn’t given you an exact time, but it was closing in on 24hrs since he’d set the traps and you were fairly sure that was when he was going to make an appearance.  
You pulled the sheet of ruined cookies out, tossing the tray on the counter, and turned to roll out what was left of the lavender cookie dough. It wouldn’t be many, there wouldn’t be any fancy flowers, but it would be something.  
You sighed.  
There was a knock on your door at 24hrs on the dot.  
Muriel was standing on your porch, arms crossed, Inanna at his feet and his Jeep parked in your driveway.  
“Have they been making noise?” He asked in lieu of a greeting. You shook your head. “Good.” You stepped aside, letting him walk into your house, and exchanged greetings with Inanna before shutting the door behind her. Muriel was already headed up the ladder by the time you walked into the hallway. Inanna sat the foot of the ladder, watching Muriel with obvious interest.  
He disappeared into the attic.  
You leaned against the wall, unsure of how to help. The muffled sound of hissing drifted down to you and you exchanged a look with Inanna. The dog stood, wandering further into your house. There was some clanking and thumps, and you’d almost decided to climb up after him when one of the traps was lowered through the open hatch. It was enshrouded in what looked like a converted sheet, the handle at the top of the cage sticking through and tied to a rope with a sturdy knot. It landed at the foot of the ladder, rope going slack.  
“Do…” You hesitated. “Do you want me to untie this?”  
“Yes.” Muriel’s voice was a little muffled. “Do not get too close, they bite.”  
You paled, carefully undoing the knot while holding yourself as far from the cage as possible. The cage hissed. The rope disappeared back into the attic.  
“Now what?”  
“Move the trap. I will lower the next one.”  
“I- Okay.” You set the trap against the wall at the start of the hallway, eyeing it suspiciously as you walked back to the ladder to receive the next one.  
Once all three traps were lined up in the hall, Muriel descended. He insisted on carrying them out to his car unaided, carefully stowing them in the back of the Jeep. Inanna hopped into the passenger seat, watching him with barely concealed impatience.  
He met you on the porch, raising an eyebrow as you handed him the small package of cookies. He toasted you with it before tucking the package in his pocket.  
“I will be back tonight to reset a trap. In case.” He shrugged.  
“Thank you.” You leaned around him, looking at the Jeep. “Where are you taking them?”  
“Away.” At your raised eyebrow, he sighed. “Woods, fifty or more miles away.”  
You hesitated for a long moment. “Can… I come with you? Do you need help?”  
Muriel paused for a long moment, watching you steadily as a blush started to rise on his cheeks, before shrugging a little more forcefully than he had to and turning to walk to his car. You scrambled to lock the front door before bounding after him, sliding in next to Inanna and clicking the seatbelt into place before shooting Muriel a grin. He blushed a little harder, but started the car without comment.


	3. Chapter 3

You were kneeling in front of one of your flower beds, head ducked low and arm outstretched to try and reach a particularly difficult weed, when something that felt suspiciously like a dog nose shoved itself into your armpit. You yelped in surprise, sitting up and finding Inanna beside you, watching you with obvious amusement. You grinned.  
“What does Muriel think of you sneaking over here so much?” You asked, tone teasing and light.  
Inanna wagged her tail, thumping it on the ground emphatically.  
“You say that, but he seems a little exasperated when I bring you home.”  
Inanna tipped her head, blowing a gust of air out her nose.  
“Yes, well.” You stood, dusting your hands off on your pants. “I can’t give you anything that could be considered a bribe to keep you coming over here, so let’s walk you home and see if Muriel wants to come back for tea so you can get snacks.”  
Inanna pulled her lips back in a grin, tongue lolling, as she lead the way back to Muriel’s house. You couldn’t help chuckling as you kept up with her happy trot. She walked right up to the fence encircling the back yard, carefully pushing the gate open and turning to look at you.  
You shook your head, chuckling. “That is way too easy for you to do, I’m going to have to sell you out on this one.”  
Inanna whuffed, cocking her head, and followed you into the back yard. You latched the fence behind you before turning to look around. There was a small house with wire netting near the back wall of Muriel’s house, a few garden beds stretching off along the fence. A broad figure was kneeling in the grass, working on one of the garden beds.  
“Hey Muriel!” You called, a little louder than you normally would. You felt a pang of guilt at encroaching on his space like this, but Inanna’s easy operation of the gate needed to be addressed.  
Muriel straightened, whirling to face you, surprise evident in his expression. You waved. He frowned, standing and dusting his hands off before walking towards you.  
“Sorry to barge in, I-“ A clucking noise from near your ankles stopped you mid-sentence. You blinked, looking down. There was a chicken staring up at you.  
You stared at each other in silence. You couldn’t begin to guess at what the chicken was thinking, but you were going through a litany of excitement in your head, trying to process seeing the little feathered creature in front of you.  
A large boot planted itself in your vision, just behind the chicken. Muriel cleared his throat.  
You looked up, immediately mortified. “Sorry, sorry, I just… I didn’t realize you had a chicken. I’ve always loved chickens and I-“ There was another cluck, this time from your left. Your head whipped around, your vision focusing on a second chicken, and you grinned.  
Muriel sighed.  
“I was working on my flowers when Inanna came over to get me and did you know she has a fantastically easy time getting through the gate? You should really figure out some kind of latch she can’t operate or something. Not that I mind her coming over, I love it, but I know you’ve been worried about cars and you don’t like it when she wanders off or when I drop in to return her. I know you prefer having notice before someone just shows up and I am so sorry for barging in, I just wanted to make sure you knew how she was getting out and that she made it back safe. Muriel, how long have you had chickens?” The words all came out of you in a tumble as you swung your attention back to the now-amused man standing in front of you. Muriel raised an eyebrow.  
“I don’t mind when you drop in.” He mumbled.  
You blinked, a slow smile spreading across your face. “Well, that’s one worry off my chest, thank you. But seriously, the chickens, how long?”  
He shrugged. “Years.”  
There was another cluck from further in the yard, near one of the garden beds.  
“How… how many chickens do you have?” You asked slowly.  
“Three.”  
He sighed at your wide-eyed expression and motioned your further into the yard.  
“Is- I- Do they have names?” You asked, following after him.  
“Yes.”  
“Muriel. Muriel, what did you name the chickens?”  
“They named themselves.”  
“Muriel.” Your tone walked the border between exasperated and enthralled. “What did they name themselves, Muriel?”  
“Why do you keep saying my name?” He frowned, sitting on the edge of the porch and motioning for you to do the same. “It’s weird.”  
“Because I am trying to express how vitally important the answers to these questions are.” You dropped onto the porch with a soft huff. Inanna nosed your hand and you stroked her head absent-mindedly.  
“They’re… chickens.” He looked perplexed but amused.  
“Yes, and I love them, which means I need to know their names.”  
He sighed, shaking his head to hide his faint smile. “Bwak-bwak, Bwak-cluck and Cluck.” He pointed at each one in turn and you followed his motion raptly. All three looked up at their names, making inquisitive sounds. The biggest, Bwak-bwak, trundled over to investigate, tipping its head and looking up at you with one shiny eye. It made a soft, contemplative sound and you pressed your hands to your mouth.  
“Hi.” You said softly, leaning forward. The chicken was virtually a ball of feathers, feet sticking out the bottom and curious face peering out from the mass of feathers covering its head. Beside you, Muriel sighed again, although you thought you detected a note of amusement in it. He nudged your shoulder and you turned to him, blinking. His hand was outstretched and you reached to accept whatever he was handing you before you realized you were going to move. His hand opened and a trickle of bird seed landed in your palm.  
He gestured to the ground between you and the chicken, and you grinned before gently releasing it in an arc around your feet.  
Bwak-bwak’s excited sounds brought the other two running, and you pulled your feet up under you as you delightedly watched the chickens swarming in front of the porch. You turned to thank Muriel, the words lost behind a self-conscious smile as you realized he was trying not to laugh.  
“Keep feeding them and the ladies will love you.” He observed, barely hiding his smile.  
“That implies that you’re going to let me come over to feed your chickens more often.” You paused, grinning. “Also, I love that you call them the ladies.”  
He shrugged. “They are.”  
“Very fine ladies, at that.” You nodded. “Thank you for introducing me to them.”  
“Not really sure I had a choice.” Muriel raised an eyebrow, amusement taking any sting from his observation.  
You grinned, your rejoinder interrupted by Inanna sticking her head under your now-unoccupied hand and letting out an impatient sigh. You laughed, burying your fingers in the fur around her ears and turned your attention back to the way the sunlight danced on the chickens feathers. Beside you, Muriel leaned back and turned a contemplative eye on his flower beds.  
The peaceful moment didn’t last as long as you may have liked, but it was nice while it was.


	4. Chapter 4

You looked down at the cooling casserole sitting on your counter and bit your lip. Half of it was still in the family casserole dish, gifted from your father as one of your house warming presents (you’d accused him of giving it to you as part of his campaign to clean the house out, one of the first steps in his dream of buying an RV and travelling, and he had just laughed). The other half was sitting in a plain bowl.  
This had seemed like such a good idea when you were putting it together. The casserole dish was too big for one person to eat all of it unless they ate it for every meal, and possibly for a few snacks in between. Taking half of it to Muriel had seemed like the simplest solution.  
Now that you were looking at the finished dish, now that you needed to actually walk it across the street and say something to him that didn’t make you sound completely unhinged…  
You sighed, setting the lid on the dish and wrapping a tea towel around it. No help for it now, you weren’t going to eat nothing but this for the week and you absolutely weren’t going to waste food.  
The road outside was quiet, no traffic to delay your inevitable interaction. Through the door, you could hear the bell echo through Muriel’s house, followed by Inanna’s inquisitive bark.  
The door itself swung open a long moment later, Muriel looking confused and vaguely wary until he realized it was you. You smiled, hands too full to wave.  
He raised an eyebrow.  
“Hi!” You cleared your throat. “I, ah, I made a casserole and I… forgot how much the recipe makes. I can’t possibly eat all of this myself, so I brought you some.”  
He blinked, nonplussed.  
“It’s really good, I promise, old family recipe. Hasn’t killed any of us yet.”  
He snorted, finally accepting the dish. Inanna wiggled her way between him and the doorframe, frantically sniffing the bottom of the dish. “Thank you.”  
You grinned, wracking your brain for anything else you could say and coming up empty-handed. “Yea, of course, thank you for taking it.” You started to step back.  
Muriel frowned. “Do you…” He sighed. “Have you put IKEA furniture together before?”  
You blinked, startled by the change in subject. “I- yeah. Yeah, a few times. My apartment in college was all IKEA and milk crates.”  
“Do you remember how to put them together?”  
“Oh, totally, but I’ll need a beer.” He blinked. “My roommates said I was an IKEA-savant, but I have to be a little tipsy to do it.”  
“I- That- Okay. I’ve got beer. Would you help me put these shelves together?” He sighed, visibly pained. “Please.”  
You couldn’t help grinning. “Absolutely! Lead the way.”  
He nodded, turning and gesturing you into the house. You stepped in, slipping your shoes off, and followed him into the living room. Your glances, that you desperately tried to keep from being obvious, yielded a few impressions. Everything was in neutral tones, there were few photographs (mostly of Asra and an older woman with a brilliant smile), and all the furniture looked handmade. You paused in the entry to the living room, looking at the pile of IKEA boards in puzzlement.  
“Muriel.” You started, looking up at him. “Why are you putting together IKEA shelves when the rest of your house is…” You gestured to the obviously hand-carved chair near you.  
He flushed. “Asra bought me books. Need somewhere to keep them until I can build a shelf.”  
“You build your own furniture?” The question tumbled out. Hearing the words made you pause for a bare second before nodding. “What am I saying, of course you do. Okay. Beer for shelves.”  
You settled on the floor, pulling the instructions closer to you as a blushing Muriel retreated into the kitchen. He returned a moment later, passing you a cold glass bottle that you sipped from absent-mindedly as you flipped through the pamphlet.  
You paused, looking at the bottle. “This is… really good.”  
“Rowdy Raven Brewery. Local.” His expression turned somewhere between amusement and disgust. “Asra’s… friend works there on weekends.”  
You looked at the bottle more closely, taking another sip. “Guess I’ll have to go visit.” You tipped the bottle towards him. “Thank you.”  
“Thank you.” Muriel dropped into a chair, Inanna appearing next to him to nose at his unoccupied hand. He reached out to scratch her ears absentmindedly.  
You shrugged. “Secretly? This is really fun for me.” You shot him a grin before turning to the pile of pieces in front of you and taking a long sip of your drink.  
If your college roommates had been asked, and they had a couple of times, they would have described it as an ‘IKEA trance’. They’d hold full conversations in the same room that elicited little more than a grunt in response from you, and there was no saving the fool that tried to move your hex key. They’d held races, that you hadn’t noticed, and your victories were always landslides. They’d made you a little crown of abandoned hex keys, it was in one of the boxes you hadn’t gotten to yet.  
Looking at the finally constructed shelves in front of you, you considered that you might have to dig it out when you got home. You turned to Muriel, blinking.  
“It won’t fall apart if you sneeze but you should brace it against a wall or something, they’re not the sturdiest things in the world.”  
He nodded as if this were of vital importance. Inanna padded forward to sniff at it. “Thank you for your help.”  
“No problem, just glad it’s finally my turn to be useful.” Your grin faltered as he frowned. “I mean, you’re always bailing me out, like with the possums and that time my skillet caught fire. I’m just glad I can return the favor.”   
He frowned harder. “You don’t need to be useful. I do those things because you’re-“ He stopped, looking stricken.  
You blinked, a delighted smile creeping across your face. “Were you going to say ‘my friend’? Have I graduated from neighbor to friend?”  
The blush on his cheeks undermined the sternness in his new frown. “That casserole was still warm. You should eat yours before it gets cold.” He stood abruptly, leading the way back towards the front door. You grinned at Inanna before getting to your feet and following him. He stared at his feet as you pulled your shoes on.  
“I think I’m going to swing by that brewery this weekend.” You observed. “Let me know if you want me to grab anything for you. Or if you want to come along.”  
He flushed harder, nodding. “I’ll bring your dish back.”  
“Thanks.” You grinned. “Have a good night, Muriel.”  
He nodded, opening the door, and you stepped out into an evening that seemed a little warmer than when you’d gone in.


End file.
